This invention relates to outrigger canoes and, more particularly, to a safety release for attaching an outrigger to a canoe. More specifically, it relates to a safety outrigger canoe comprising, a hull for carrying a paddler seated thereon; a pair of yakus disposed perpendicular to the hull each having an inner end and an outer end; an ama carried parallel to the hull by the outer end of each of the pair of yakus; and, safety release means for attaching and holding the inner end of each of the pair of yakus to the hull under normal conditions and for releasing the inner end of each of the pair of yakus from the hull when the ama is subjected to a force which would otherwise break the yakus.
Outrigger canoes are rapidly gaining popularity for sport and entertainment. Throughout the islands of the Pacific in particular, the outrigger canoe has long afforded a means of transportation not only for fishing and inter-island travel locally, but for travel over long distances as well. Such outrigger canoes come in all sizes from small one-man canoes to large canoes holding many paddlers.
More recently, one-man kayaks and canoes have been found to provide good exercise as well as good sport for health minded individuals. Thus, they are rapidly gaining in popularity. For good swimmers and more athletically inclined individuals, the kayak is very popular. Interest in ocean-going kayaking was stimulated in part by the popular Magnum P.I. television series which often featured the show's star, Tom Sellick, paddling his kayak in the beautiful waters of Hawaii.
An ocean-going kayak is long and of narrow beam. Thus, the user of a kayak must be fit and concentrate on what he/she is doing in order to prevent the kayak from rolling over and dumping the user in the water. Once in the water, a certain amount of skill is required to get back in the kayak in a paddling position. By contrast, a canoe fitted with an outrigger is much more stable and resistant to capsizing. Thus, it is more desirable for those of lesser skill or more interested in leisure activities requiring less concentration on the boat such as fishing, recreational paddling, or "surfing" the boat through waves.
As depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, an outrigger canoe 10 having an outrigger 12 comprises a hull 14 upon which the paddler 16 sits and steers with a rudder 18 employing foot peddles (not shown). The outrigger 12 comprises a pair of yakus 20 attached to the hull 14 on one end and to an ama 22 on the other end. The outrigger 12 as depicted in the drawing figures is a single outrigger having only one ama 22. A double outrigger would have the yakus 20 extending in like manner on both sides of the hull 14 with amas 22 on both sides of the hull 14 to resist rolling in both directions. In early outrigger canoes, the yakus 20 were lashed to the hull 14 with rope or vines. Contemporary outrigger canoes are made of fiberglass and the yakus 20 are typically bolted to strongbacks 24 formed into the hull 14 employing stainless steel bolts 26.
As depicted in FIG. 2, if the canoe 10 becomes positioned broadside to a wave coming from the right as the figure is viewed, there will be a counter-clockwise capsizing force 28 exerted on the ama 22. If the paddler 16 does nothing, the canoe 10 will capsize. Not wishing to capsize, however, the paddler 16 will lean in the direction of the ama 22 to create a counteracting rotational force 30. If the force 28 is not too large, the counteracting force 30 will prevent the capsizing of the canoe 10 and nothing adverse will happen.
In a high wave situation such as encountered when taking the canoe 10 through the surf or when intentionally "surfing" the canoe 10, placing the canoe intentionally or inadvertently in a broadside situation can have more disastrous results as pictured in FIG. 3. The capsizing force 28 and the counteracting force 30 form a couple acting through the strongbacks 24 and the yakus 20. In anticipation of this, the original builder of the canoe is placed on the horns of a dilemma and regardless of the design choice made, the paddler 16 will be placed in a dangerous situation. The design choice is one of deciding what is to be the weakest link. If the yakus 20 are made stronger than the strongbacks 24, the strongbacks 24 will break requiring major reconstruction to the canoe 10. If the strongbacks 24 are made stronger than the yakus 20, the yakus 20 may break when not really necessary. While the yakus 20 are easier and less costly to replace, the problem is that when one or both yakus 20 breaks, the canoe cannot be used because rotational stability cannot be achieved even through concentration as is possible with a kayak since the paddler 16 sits on the top of a canoe as depicted in FIG. 1 rather than on the bottom as in a kayak. Thus, the paddler's center of gravity is too high for stability without the outrigger 12. If the outrigger 12 is broken in either manner described above and the paddler 16 is close to shore, it becomes a matter of inconvenience only unless the paddler 16 is a non-swimmer who should not have been out on a canoe in the first place. When further out, however, not being able to paddle the canoe back can present a serious problem for even a good swimmer.
The situation with outrigger canoes, therefore, is similar to that which existed not too many years ago with respect to ski equipment. When done mostly by experts, the skis were securely fastened to the skier's boots. In a bad fall that could not be avoided, the skier often broke leg bones because of the secure fastening of the skis to the boots which imparted sever forces to the leg bones in a fall. With the advent of skiing as a popular sport enjoyed by many people of differing skill levels, various forms of safety bindings which released the skis from the boots under extreme forces soon were invented and became popular.
Wherefore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a safety release attachment for the yakus to the canoe in an outrigger canoe or similar device.